My baby's back

Day 26

Current Location: Quebec, Quebec (Canada)

Total Countries visited: 2

Total Miles Driven: 2,245

What a slow start !  Large Marge was quite sick... after three trips to three different shops, she's finally back in great shape.  We had to change her spark plugs, change the brakes (they were hitting the metal plate), replace the catalytic converter (it was broken and completely plugged), rebuild all valves of the engine and some more... It was really expensive, but I think it's better that she get fixed now than break down in Central America... Plus she runs good as new now, smoother and stronger than ever (they said that rebuilding the engine gave me back 50 hp that I had lost, plus fuel economy savings)...

And I treated Her Largeness to a very nice upgrade, with 4 brand new speakers and a new stereo system.  Whenever I turn her on, she sings along.

So... two week delay.  But who cares?  That's the good thing with not having a schedule :) I had a great time hanging out with family, doing all sorts of fun activities, eating heart attacks on a stick, and enjoying the great outdoors.

Here are some of the notable things that I did since the last post:

• Spent 1 week in Chicoutimi - hadn't done that since I moved out of the country (over 13 years ago).
• Played with the sweet little nephew and niece (in 15 minute increments scattered throughout the day, I am not ready for full-time parenting yet!).
• Made a couple mechanics richer than Warren Buffett (and increased the Canadian GDP by 2% - recession is over folks).
• Attended the finals of the Canadian Strong Man competition (Those dudes were HUGE! I couldn't compete).
• Played two rounds of golf (I lost about 25 balls but at least 25% of my shots were good... huge improvement).
• Went on a canopy / tree excursion tour... that was quite challenging and reminded me that I need to lose weight (try to lift 215 pounds on a platform 50 feet up in the tree using only your arms... I struggled a bit).
• Went fishing with my dad... 7 hours on a boat, not a single bite.  It was a gorgeous sunny day though, so I worked on the middle part of my GTL a little bit.

Today I finally leave towards Gaspesie and the Maritime provinces of Quebec... expect a bit more excitement coming soon !  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy the following pictures of the last 10 days.

Pro sighting on the golf course.

Help!  I'm about to fall!

Fishing with dad.

Beautiful fishing day.

Gabriel and mom making pie.

Me and the kids.

Gertrude has a nice rack.

My twin.

Token Twinkie picture

Cheers!

D